BERLIN — Swiss voters rejected a plan to accelerate the country’s exit from nuclear energy in a referendum Sunday, turning down an initiative that would have forced their government to shut the last plant in 2029.

The plan promoted by the Green party would have meant closing three of Switzerland’s five nuclear plants next year. Polls ahead of the referendum had shown a tight race, but voters shot down the initiative by 54.2 per cent to 45.8 per cent.

Under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, proposals need support from both a majority of the country’s cantons (states) and of the national vote to pass. Only six of Switzerland’s 26 states backed the nuclear shutdown plan.

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Swiss government adopted a gradualist approach toward transitioning the country to renewable energy by 2050.

It said nuclear plants should continue to operate as long as they are deemed safe, but didn’t set a precise timetable. The government said it needs time to switch to other sources such as wind, solar and biomass energy.

If successful, the initiative would have limited the lifespan of nuclear plants to 45 years and meant the closure next year of the Beznau 1, Beznau 2 and Muehleberg reactors. The newest of the plants, in Leibstadt near the German border, started operating in 1984 and would have had to close in 2029.

The nuclear plants currently generate around a third of Switzerland’s electricity.

“We would have liked to win, that’s clear, but 45 per cent for ‘yes; is a good result,” Regula Rytz, the Greens’ chairwoman, told SRF television. Her party isn’t part of Switzerland’s broad coalition government.

“The problems haven’t been resolved with this referendum Sunday,” Rytz said. “We will keep at it on safety, on financial security … and on expanding renewable energies.”

A group representing Swiss business, economiesuisse, said in a statement that “a hasty exit from nuclear energy would only have brought disadvantages for Switzerland.”

It welcomed what it described in a statement as “voters’ clear signal for a secure electricity supply and strong domestic energy production.”

The problems haven’t been resolved with this referendum Sunday. We will keep at it

Neighbouring Germany took a sharper turn away from nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. It plans to shut down its nuclear power plants by the end of 2022.

The referendum result “is a disappointment for all who had hoped for clarity on when the last nuclear power station in Switzerland will go offline,” Rita Schwarzeluehr-Sutter, a deputy German environment minister, said.

Nuclear power is “an outdated model in Switzerland, too,” she said, adding that the country has some of the world’s oldest reactors and “their days are numbered anyway.”

For the past 50 summers, music lovers have flocked to the banks of Lake Geneva to take in the Montreux Jazz Festival. Drawing more than 250,000 visitors over its annual two-week run, the festival looms large and dominates the Swiss town’s landscape and culture. But Montreux has another claim to musical fame: It was where Freddie Mercury, the legendary lead singer and songwriter of Queen, came to find peace.

Like many well-known rock bands and musicians — including David Bowie, Deep Purple and Iggy Pop — Queen was drawn to Montreux by its quiet solitude and the lower taxes. The band members grew to appreciate the town so much that Mercury rented homes there. In 1979, they bought Mountain Studios, where they did much of their recording. Though Mercury died 25 years ago this month, a visitor today need only go slightly beneath the surface to find his spirit throughout the town.

I visited Montreux in June after a stay in Chamonix, France. With a return flight out of Geneva, I decided to tack on a couple of days in the town, drawn as much by its alpine lakeside location as its music history. I was charmed by both and upon arrival, drawn to the waterfront promenade for a stroll past the town’s restaurants, hotels and historical Chillon Castle.

Amanda Loudin for The Washington PostA room with a view; Lake Geneva as seen from the Fairmont Montreux Palace in Montreux, Switzerland.

When Mercury came to Montreux in 1978, it was not love at first sight. “He hated it,” says Peter Freestone, who was Mercury’s personal assistant from 1979 until his death in 1991. I spoke to Feestone via telephone from his home in Prague. “Early on, in fact, he said that the best place for the studio would be at the bottom of the lake.”

Montreux, apparently, was too quiet for the famously energetic Mercury. “Back when Queen first got here, the town was tiny and there was absolutely nothing to do,” says Freestone. “But if you wanted to record an album, it was perfect.”

Montreux began to appeal to Mercury once he had accepted his AIDS diagnosis in 1987, Freestone says. “At that point, Freddie needed and wanted peace and quiet, and the town could deliver it,” he explains. “The Swiss were very used to seeing famous faces in Montreux, and they tended to leave them alone.” Mercury could visit shops, eat out at local restaurants and move about town without the throng of fans and media following him in Montreux as they did in his home town of London.

Amanda Loudin for The Washington PostView from the banks of Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland.

Indeed, the city has plenty to offer. If following in Queen’s footsteps doesn’t appeal, there’s the lake, available for recreation of all kinds, touring the history-rich town and taking in the castle. It’s easy to enjoy it all in at a relaxed pace and simply people-watch along the promenade. As in most Swiss cities, the food is top-notch, albeit expensive. Montreux enjoys a temperate climate, and touring the area can be pleasant year-round. If jazz and crowds are not your thing, however, you probably want to avoid early July.

Queen produced seven albums in Montreux, including the band’s 15th and final one, “Made in Heaven.” The band members knew they were recording on borrowed time; Mercury worked as much as his diminishing energy would allow, with the other three members accommodating his scheduling needs. “The band spent as much time as possible in the studio during this period,” says Julia Tames, media and communications representative for Montreux Riviera, the local tourist office where I checked in. “After he passed, the rest of the band finished the album.” (It was released four years after his death, in 1995.)

“If you listen to the lyrics of ‘A Winter’s Tale’ from the final album, you can hear and see everything in Montreux,” Freestone says.

The album’s cover was shot in three frames in Montreux, later combined. The blended photo shows the three-metre (10-foot) Freddie Mercury statue that still overlooks the lake from the town promenade, the three remaining band members on the shores of the lake and the boat house of the home Mercury rented while in Montreux.

These days, fans of Mercury and Queen can tour Mountain Studios, located on the top floor of the town’s casino. The control room is unchanged from Queen’s recording days except for a new recording console. Visitors can also see some of Mercury’s performance costumes, handwritten lyrics and a wide variety of memorabilia. A brass plate marks the spot where Mercury stood to record his final songs. Both an interior and exterior wall at the building are covered in signatures and handwritten tributes to Mercury.

To enter the studio, you must first pass through the dated, gilded casino and walk up to the second floor. Here Queen’s music loudly greets you, even if crowds do not. I had the studio to myself while there, and I meandered through its three rooms at my own pace.

Beyond the studio, “you can feel Freddie all over town,” Freestone says.

There’s the statue, a bronze work by Czech sculptor Irena Sedlecka that was unveiled in 1996 and has become, local officials say, one of the 10 most visited tourist attractions in Switzerland. And several of the bars and restaurants Mercury favoured still stand: Fans can have a meal at Brasserie Bavaria, a drink at Funky Claude’s, or stay at the Montreux Palace, where Mercury and the band spent many a night.

Amanda Loudin for The Washington Post10th century Chillon Castle juts out into Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland.

I stayed down the road/promenade from the palace at the Royal Plaza. Although the location was good, the hotel has seen better days, and a heavy 1980s vibe permeates the property.

Visitors with a boat can get a view of a lakeside house that Mercury rented for several years — he called it the “duck house,” due to the landlord’s decorating motif. Each fall, Freestone, who is semi-retired, spends a weekend hosting several boat tours, taking visitors to view the house and other sights. You can generally score tickets from Freestone’s website or inquire about them at the tourist office. “We occasionally do walking tours as well, but that’s not quite as regular,” he says.

After Mercury’s death in 1991, surviving band members Brian May and Roger Taylor and manager Jim Beach set up the Mercury Phoenix Trust (MPT) to raise money for AIDS education and awareness projects around the world.

For the past three years, the MPT has held a fundraising party at the Montreux casino around Sept. 5, commemorating Mercury’s birthday. The event is open to the public; fans can purchase tickets through the MPT. This year marked what would have been his 70th.

“It’s difficult to imagine Freddie at the age of 70,” Freestone says, “because he never wanted to slow down. We . . . use his birthday as an excuse to party, which is what he would have wanted.”

Amanda Loudin for The Washington PostOne of Freddie Mercury's iconic performance outfits on display in the Queen Studio Tour in Montreux, Switzerland.

IF YOU GO

Where to stay

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace: Ave. Claude Nobs 2; 011-41-21-962-1212, fairmont.com/montreux.
The grand dame of Montreux where Mercury and Queen often stayed. From approximately $388 a night.

Hotel Eurotel: Grand-Rue 81; 011-41-21-966-2222, eurotel-montreux.ch/en.
A modern high-rise hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva. From approximately $254 a night.

Brasserie Bavaria: Avenue Nestle 17; 011-41-21-963-2545, brasserie-bavaria.ch.
One of the oldest restaurants in town and also a Queen favourite. Entrees start at $33.

What to do

Queen – The Studio Experience: Rue du Théâtre 9; 011-41-21-962-8383, mercuryphoenixtrust.com/studioexperience.
Tour the unchanged studio where the band Queen recorded seven of their albums, and Freddie Mercury’s final vocals. Open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Free.

Related

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/where-freddie-mercury-came-to-break-free-montreux-switzerland-became-the-ultimate-sanctuary/feed0stdMontreux was where Freddie Mercury, the legendary lead singer and songwriter of Queen, came to find peace. In a Sept. 18, 1984 file photo, Mercury performs at the Palais Omnisports in Paris.Amanda Loudin for The Washington PostAmanda Loudin for The Washington PostGetty ImagesAmanda Loudin for The Washington PostAmanda Loudin for The Washington PostThe best new hotels for ski season, from Vail, Colorado to St. Moritz, Switzerlandhttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/the-best-new-hotels-for-ski-season-from-vail-colorado-to-st-moritz-switzerland
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This winter will welcome a crop of five-star hotel openings in major ski resort towns around the world, all looking to push the envelope in already-luxe settings.

For most any high-end mountain resort, ski concierges and boot butlers are a given. What makes these spots shine is their commitment to modern alpine design, creating rooms that are as fit for the 21st century as your custom-moulded Solomon boots.

HUUS HOTEL, GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND

Outside, it looks like the most traditional of alpine chalets. But one peek into Gstaad’s new, 135-room Huus Hotel is all it takes to realize that this is something else entirely. Sure, the are cuckoo clocks on the bedroom walls — but depending on the room, those walls are painted in slate grey or Kelly green, and they’re accented by headboards that span the entire length of the room. On the beds are a cornucopia of plaid patterns that no 1960s designer would have ever attempted to put together. This is, after all, a Design Hotels property, and it’s daringly styled accordingly by the Swedish team at Stylt Trampoli. But just as alluring as its good looks is its access to some of the world’s best ski terrain: the Schönried and Gstaad lifts are both roughly three kilometres (two miles) away. Rooms from CAD$203.

HOTEL TALISA, VAIL, COLORADO

Hotel TalisaThe former Vail Cascade Resort has been completely remastered and rebranded by The Luxury Collection as the Hotel Talisa

The former Vail Cascade Resort has been completely remastered and rebranded by The Luxury Collection as the Hotel Talisa — which means “beautiful waters” in the local Native American language. Those beautiful waters refer to Gore Creek, which forms a burbling backdrop for the spa and many of the resort’s 285 masculine rooms. Skip the entry-level Standard rooms, which lack the fireplaces and private terraces that you’ll find one category up, in the Deluxe rooms. And if you forget to book yourself in for a restorative massage, just retreat to your floor-to-ceiling marble-clad bathroom for a bubble bath in the massive soaking tub.

As for mountain access, that’s a point of pride for the new hotel, which opens on January 20. It’s set in Cascade Village — the least-exciting of Vail’s three villages, yes — but the silver lining of being one and a half kilometres away from the restaurants of Vail Village or the skating rink in Lionhead is that you’re right at the foot of the Cascade lift. According to the hotel’s Managing Director, John Garth, it’s the fastest way to zip up to the top of the mountain. Prices not available at press time.

LES NEIGES, COURCHEVEL, FRANCE

Hôtels BarrièreThe Hotel Barriere Les Neiges has found a way to make every tired alpine design trope feel new again with the debut of its 42 rooms this season in Courchevel.

Forget everything you know about cliché mountain décor. The Hotel Barriere Les Neiges has found a way to make every tired alpine design trope feel new again with the debut of its 42 rooms this season in Courchevel. Each is like a little wooden jewel box, practically glowing in warm amber tones. With white fur blankets, velveteen throw pillows, chairs covered entirely in furry white shag, and in-room fireplaces, this is a place where you can easily forget about the slopes and stay in bed all day long.

If you do insist on getting outside — and your private terrace doesn’t cut it — the property is ski-in, ski-out. And what better excuses to check out the Biologique Recherche spa or the Mauro Colagreco restaurant than sore legs and a worked-up appetite? Rooms from CAD$2,142.

Taos has tons of die-hard fans for its powdery conditions and barely-there lift lines. But up until this season, the only lodging options have been a kitschy Bavarian-themed inn and Airbnb.

Enter The Blake, part of a US$300 million investment into the entire ski area. The 80-room hotel, opening February, is just one of many mountain improvements coming this season. A renovated base area, a new lift to the top of the mountain, and the development of public plazas and a Riverwalk are also in the works.

But even if the hotel was the only development, it would still be reason enough to renew interest in this uniquely Southwestern ski destination. Its 80 rooms and common spaces will blend elements of Alpine and Puebla design: the lobby will have a white adobe fireplace adorned with antlers and flanked by Native American textiles, for instance. And unlike the only other luxury resorts in the wider area, you won’t have to drive 40 minutes to get to the lifts — they’re just outside your door. Rooms from US$249.

SUVRETTA HOUSE, ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND

Suvretta HouseWhereas St. Moritz is known for its 100-plus-year-old historic hotels, the 105-year-old Suvretta is renovating its rooms to fit in squarely with the 21st century.

Suvretta House holds plenty of superlatives — even in the company of the half-dozen grand hotels that line St. Moritz. It’s the iconic destination’s only ski-in, ski-out option. It’s got the best snow sports school in town. Its position on the slopes affords it some of the best landscape views in the area. But now, it’s also the most modern option, by far.

Whereas St. Moritz is known for its 100-plus-year-old historic hotels, the 105-year-old Suvretta is renovating its rooms to fit in squarely with the 21st century. The gold curtains and patterned carpets are being replaced with sleek wood floors, graceful rugs, modern striped window treatments, and pops of violet. And while only half of the rooms will renovated in time for this season (the rest will come online next year), all guests will have access to one covetable perk: the new house car, a Tesla, painted in British Racing Green. Rooms from CAD$388.

The Dunton team struck gold with their first property, a takeover of an abandoned ghost town in a hot springs town that few had ever heard of before. Its sophomore opening, Dunton River Camp, had the fashion world clamoring to go glamping in Colorado’s remote backcountry. So imagine what they will do to skyrocket Telluride’s reputation, given that the popular (if low-key) ski resort has never had a grade-A property in the heart of its historic downtown core?

That’s the bet that’s being made with Dunton Town House, a five-room Victorian home that the Dunton team is converting into a high-design, five-room inn. The décor will riff on the heritage of Austria and Tyrol, with antique Austrian furniture, alpine-inspired Gmundner Keramik dishes for breakfast service, and art that was curated by co-owner and professional gallerist Katrin Bellinger. Doors open in November — within a two-minute walk of the lifts, no less. Rooms from US$350.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/the-best-new-hotels-for-ski-season-from-vail-colorado-to-st-moritz-switzerland/feed0stdBut one peek into Gstaad's new, 135-room Huus Hotel is all it takes to realize that this is something else entirely.Hotel TalisaHôtels BarrièreTaos Ski Valley via APSuvretta House‘Grand Tour’ takes in best of Switzerland: Modern traveller owes a tip of the hat to pioneering Thomas Cookhttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/grand-tour-takes-in-best-of-switzerland-modern-traveller-owes-a-tip-of-the-hat-to-pioneering-thomas-cook
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In 1847 a British entrepreneur named Thomas Cook launched “grand tours of Europe” for the newly rich British to travel to Switzerland. That same Grand Tour of Switzerland is still available, more than 150 years later.

Whereas Cook’s tours went slowly by boat and carriage, the modern traveller flies direct to Zurich, a global banking centre. Centred around the Limmat River, the town reflects the old glory with its cobblestone streets, tall church spires and bustling cafés along the river.

The discerning tourist may wish to take accommodations at the Widder Hotel, originally built in the 12th century as a warehouse. Today the Widder is the epitome of classic Swiss service and charm, its original stone walls of 1192 in sharp contrast with the hotel’s modern plasma TVs and glass elevators.

From Zurich, today’s tourist can jump aboard the many punctual, clean and high-speed Swiss trains and whisk right across the country in a matter of hours. Try the express to Zermatt and enjoy an up-close view of the Matterhorn and 28 other alpine peaks over 4,000 metres.

Michael McCarthyThe old cobblestone capital of Zurich is the starting point for the Grand Tour of Switzerland, with its gorgeous views, fresh air and fabulous cuisine.

An hour east of Zurich by rail, travellers have been flocking to the resort of Bad Ragaz since the “healing waters” were discovered in 1242 by hunters in a nearby gorge. The waters – with a constant temperature of 36.6°C, the same as the human body – were later diverted into a tunnel and these days are piped directly to the Grand Resort.

Resort guests can enjoy a variety of spa and medical services, including laser and plastic surgery, from a team of up to 70 doctors.

While a traveller could spend weeks wallowing at Bad Ragaz if the wallet allowed, this would mean missing out on Lake Country, centred around the extremely pleasant town of Lucerne, where the Palace Hotel became a place for Cook’s clients to spend entire summers. That is, while not cruising up and down the lake on paddle wheelers taking in the stunning views of the Alps.

Phil Inglis/Getty ImagesTravellers have been flocking to the resort of Bad Ragaz since the "healing waters" were discovered in 1242.

Paddle wheelers still take passengers on tours of Lake Lucerne, stopping at many agreeable little villages and hotels. At the far eastern end, the traveller resumes the Grand Tour via the William Tell Express train. Fresh air and high mountains initially inspired the German writer Goethe to wax poetic about the health and beauty of the Swiss Alps. Britain during the Industrial Revolution was as heavily polluted as today’s China, so Thomas Cook promoted fresh air as the reason for a Swiss mountain vacation.

What better road to health than an extended stay in the Alps at Andermatt, at 1,500 metres a mountain village as pretty today as it was over a century ago? Hotels abound for both skiers and summer hikers, but the discerning traveller will step across the street from the train station and ensconce their party at the luxury of the Chedi Hotel, perhaps the only resort in the Alps serving high-end Japanese sushi, sashimi and tempura in its luxury restaurants.

From the Chedi it’s only a few hundred metres’ amble to the nearest mountain lift, or guests can rent a British sports convertible like the Aston Martin shown in the James Bond motion picture Goldfinger, filmed in this very valley, and go for a quick spin on the winding Swiss mountain roads. Or a local hiking guide can have you strolling the high alpine meadows in a matter of minutes. In 1882, engineering had advanced to the point where a tunnel could be built underneath the Alps and a train system constructed to replace the ancient cobbled roads that had served pilgrims for centuries. Such an engineering marvel truly opened up Switzerland to travellers, and those who could afford the Grand Tour packed their trunks and took the train. Today, the newly opened Gotthard Tunnel is the longest in the world. Upon exiting it to the south into the canton of Ticino, one emerges into a whole new culture. Yes, it’s still Switzerland but it is marvellously and wonderfully Italian in language and behaviour.

Getty ImagesLucerne is known for its preserved medieval architecture.

In Ticino, bask in sunshine on the shores of the lovely lakes, ascend to the peaks by gondolas and trails, or simply indulge in the myriad pleasures of a grand resort such as the Castello del Sole in the gorgeous village of Ascona. Long ago, entire families would escape the polluted skies of Old Blighty and rent villas in Ascona for the summer, arriving with trunks and servants and booking entire floors of hotels. In the hotel saloons they would sit and sip capiler, a long forgotten refreshment of light coffee and capelvenere syrup (from a delicate fern that grows only in cool and shade in the nearby Ticino hills) served with lemon peel and a shot of liquor.

Today Castello del Sole operates the top “farm-to-table” operation in all of Europe.

On more than 100 hectares of rich alluvial soil they grow the fare served in their fine five-star restaurants, maintain a vineyard for their own wines, a distillery for spirits, and grow risotto rice, wheat and other grains sold in high-end markets around the country. The main villa dates back to the 15th century. The swimming pool is not quite as large as the lush green lawns that cascade half a kilometre down to the resort’s sandy beach on Lake Maggiore.

Sitting in the Castello courtyard sipping champagne while perusing the dinner menu as the sun sinks over the Alps, there is the temptation to stay a bit longer. Sautéed lobster with crustacean sauce and eucalyptus leaves, caviar of lemons from the garden, beluga lentils and shimeji mushrooms, or perhaps the scampi with red Thai curry and herbs. Topped off with a chocolate-mocha tranche, olive-rosemary biscuit and rose hip ice cream. Decisions …

Johannes Simon/Getty ImagesLong ago, entire families would escape the polluted skies of Old Blighty and rent villas in Ascona for the summer.

Should one be required to eventually leave the most beautiful country in the world, with its gorgeous views and fresh air and fabulous food, make sure to stay at the Baur de Lac hotel back in Zurich before leaving, truly a Grand Tour resort in every sense of the word. The finest hotel in the country has hosted royalty and celebrities for 150 years, always operated by the same family.

Be sure to ascend to the rooftop terrace and enjoy the views of the lake and the church spires and cathedrals spread below you.

Send a thank you to Thomas Cook.

The good man would never believe what his modest aspirations so long ago have finally become.

Michael McCarthy is a freelance travel writer and the owner of mccarthy-travels.com. He was a guest of Swiss Tourism, which did not read or approve of this article before publication.

BERLIN — Swiss media are reporting that a wingsuit flyer who fatally crashed in the Alps on Friday was broadcasting live on Facebook when the accident happened.

A video posted online shows a man readying his wingsuit before pocketing his phone and taking off. After a few moments, a shout can be heard and the sound of impact.

The video couldn’t immediately be verified.

The Zurich daily Blick reports that followers watching the video reacted with horror. Some sent messages asking that he “write or say something.”

Bern cantonal police said the body of a 28-year-old Italian citizen was recovered near Kandersteg, a popular BASE jumping location. Police spokeswoman Jolanda Egger declined Saturday to confirm the man’s identity, citing privacy rules. She said the cause of the accident was still being investigated.

]]>stdwingsuitIn the summertime, the Swiss alpine resort town of St. Moritz is the crown jewel of bargainshttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/in-the-summertime-the-swiss-alpine-resort-town-of-st-moritz-is-the-crown-jewel-of-bargains
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T. MORTIZ, Switzerland — I was fortunate to grow up skiing the Alps when doing so didn’t break the bank. In the 1980s, my family acquired a condominium in Switzerland’s Upper Engadin valley, home of St. Moritz, the crown jewel of resorts.

Which is how one can forget that St. Moritz originally attracted visitors as a summer resort with curative mineral springs. Summer now is the off-season, and I’ve come here grateful that once the snow melts, the area becomes reasonably affordable. I want to hike and hike — that’s free — but the Upper Engadin also offers mountain biking, sailing, kite surfing, spa treatments, equestrian competitions, gourmet festivals and cultural arts programming.

I have come prepared to keep my costs down. I’ve scoured websites, planned a budget. Yet I am able to fully decipher St. Moritz’s creative discounts only after days of frugality. Here, more than any other place I’ve been, attention to the fine print on a hotel or rental agreement reveals the value difference between the bottom dollar and the best deal.

Anne Calcagno for The Washington PostPines frame the postcard-perfect view from the Mount Moragl trail near St. Moritz.

At the Zurich airport, I purchase a Swiss Half Fare Card, valid for a month on many state and local trains and buses. Both the panoramic Glacier and Bernina Express train routes, designated by UNESCO as World Heritage sites, stop in St. Moritz. Discounted, my round-trip ticket to St. Moritz costs $264. (Note: Swiss trains leave on the dot.) Once I’m there, I learn quickly that the superb infrastructure of these trains and buses conveys me easily to many starting points in the valley’s expansive reach of hiking trails.

René and Edith Müller, old friends and local professional hiking guides, greet me. As a warm-up hike, we amble up Alp Muntatsch through evergreens furred with bearded lichen. They tell me how local ant species absorb sun and radiate heat back into the colony, point out that gentians shut their petals in cold rain, and teach me to recognize the short, keen whistles of marmots. We climb above the timberline, skirting lime-green fields. Sharp, white Alps rise and fall like the electrocardiogram of a massive heartbeat.

Below us, the Upper Engadin is traversed by the opalescent Inn River, fed by the waterfalls and glaciers of the eastern Alps. The riverbanks are dotted with well-maintained and pretty historical towns. (Just try finding a piece of garbage.) Lakes gleam indigo at the base of intensely teal mountains, their peaks brightly snow-capped. Approximately at mid-centre, curving around its own famed lake, St. Moritz sits pretty.

St. Moritz is divided into two neighbourhoods: the luxurious upper St. Moritz Dorf – of Prada and MiuMiu stores – and the generally more-affordable, lake-level St. Moritz Bad (which is not a description, but the German word for baths, a reference to the mineral springs). I direct myself to St. Moritz Bad. I set a nightly price cap of $195 for lodging, and budget $65 a day for food and other expenses.

Most Airbnbs require a week-long stay, but because I was arriving early in summer I had been able to reserve a four-night stay in a small, one-bedroom apartment for $144 a night.

Sven, my calm and punctual host, shows me the ropes, providing information and advice, eventually directing me to the Coop supermarket. By making my own breakfast, packing a lunch (sandwich, chocolate bar and water) on hikes and cooking dinner – say, spinach and ricotta ravioli, accompanied by a salad of arugula, tomatoes and nuts – meals average around $32 a day. A bottle of wine starts at $6.50.

This is terrific. It would be even better if there were two of us to share the room rate. Also, it would be nice to have WiFi, but I don’t; I neglected to check that fine print. And I was careless about the one-time fee for linens and cleaning, which adds $169 whether I stay one night or 10. Nonetheless, I love that it’s all mine, private and homey, with a million-dollar balcony view at no extra charge. I learn that if I had contracted directly, instead of booking through Airbnb, I could have negotiated a better price, because rentals and hotels are happy to pass on the savings to their guests from eliminating site fees.

Anne Calcagno for The Washington PostWhile its peaks are known for skiing in winter, summer hikers can find prime trails, and steep bargains, in St. Mortiz, Switzerland.

The decor at the recently renovated St. Moritz Youth Hostel is minimalist hip, with sleek cement floors, huge windows and muted tones. In the reception area, a flat-screen TV scrolls breaking news and local happenings. Manager Roland Fischer explains: “The hostel ideal is not that you should stay in your room, so we have a number of common-use spaces.” This communal emphasis – free WiFi, a huge fireplace, children’s play sections, a self-serve cafeteria, large storage rooms for sports equipment and some maintenance supplies, such as bike repair tools – cuts overall costs.

But not everyone who comes here is on my tight budget. “Our guests are a special mix,” Fischer says. “One regular comes in by private jet. We get Bentleys and Range Rovers in the parking lot. Recently, athletes competing for Brazil’s Olympics came to train at high altitude. And nostalgic seniors.” Though, he adds, the older crowd tends to ask for a private room.

So do I, even though a single bed in a four-person dorm, without bath, costs just $61, including linens and breakfast. Unfortunately, I have a mortal dread of strangers’ snoring. My single room with private bath (also with linens and breakfast) costs $186, amounting to the same as my Airbnb apartment after the extra fees. With a plentiful dinner served in the hostel’s cafeteria for a flat rate of $24, my daily food tab hardly changes.

But wait: A two-night minimum stay at the hostel also comes with a free transport pass throughout the Upper Engadin. Up until now, with my Swiss half-fare, I’ve been heading by bus or train to the in-town base of a trail and ascending as far as possible. A round-trip funicular ticket to Muottas Muragl would have cost me $44, $78 to Piz Corvatsch, and so on. With the added value of this transport pass, I now can ride to the summits for free. I stand on Muottas Muragl, where the panoramic map names 29 peaks lined up like runway models. Below the tallest, 13,284-foot Piz Bernina, is the striated Morteratsch Glacier. Far below, lakes compress into iridescent blue ponds, and St. Moritz looks like a toy town.

Anne Calcagno for The Washington PostTrail signs outside St. Moritz. The town originally attracted visitors as a summer resort.

So far, so affordable. But a week in, I discover the Hotel Laudinella – which turns out to provide, fully included in the room price, an incredible smorgasbord of St. Moritz activities.

With a two-night minimum, it costs me $195 per night for a single, including breakfast. But it comes with these additional freebies: the aforementioned Upper Engadin free public transport and cable railway pass; admission to the glamorous Ovaverva pool and health spa (otherwise $45 daily); and the hotel’s “Crystal events.”

The last perk means I can sign up, on a first-come-first-served basis, for any of the rotating daily events – including electric-bike cruising to a traditional working farm on Mondays; gourmet taste-testing in St. Moritz on Tuesdays; or the choice between sailing Lake Sils and flying in a glider on Fridays.

This is what I mean about the fine print – at Laudinella, I would be paying $9 more a night but getting so much more value. I assumed meals would burst my fiscal bubble here, but for $45 a day, I could have a prix-fixe dinner at any of Laudinella’s six restaurants, as well as an afternoon snack.

Director Christian Schlatter tells me the hotel was originally a practice and performance space founded by a church choir; today, he says, it’s “a hotel with a cultural soul.” A curated selection of artists performs for us for free in exchange for room and board, as well as time for practice and composition. That night, I watched violinist Kamilla Schatz perform on a Stradivarius as twilight draped the Alps in deep violet.

I’ll never again treat the given price of a night’s stay as the metric for budgeting in St. Moritz. Here, the delight’s often in the details.

Hotel Laudinella: Via Tegiatscha 17; 011-41-81-836-0000, laudinella.ch.
Singles from $195. Rooms are wood-paneled and streamlined with red accents, with different price tiers for different sizes and views. Six wonderful restaurants are on-site.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/in-the-summertime-the-swiss-alpine-resort-town-of-st-moritz-is-the-crown-jewel-of-bargains/feed0stdSt. Moritz, Switzerland, best known as a luxurious winter resort, becomes reasonably affordable in the offseason.Anne Calcagno for The Washington PostMaps4News/HERE; Natural Earth — The Washington PostAnne Calcagno for The Washington PostAnne Calcagno for The Washington PostSwiss scientists have figured out what it is about pomegranates that can slow down the aging processhttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/swiss-scientists-have-figured-out-what-it-is-about-pomegranates-that-can-slow-down-the-aging-process
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Pomegranates slow down the ageing process by prompting cells to recycle and rebuild themselves, Swiss researchers have shown.

The ruby red fruit was revered by the ancients as a “food of the gods,” but it has taken until now for scientists to identify the precise chemical that holds the key to staying youthful.

Researchers in Switzerland have now alighted on a single molecule – urolithin A – which they believe drives a process called mitophagy, allowing parts of the cell that become defective to be cleared away, making way for replacements.

Marie-France Coallier / PostmediaPomegranates slow down the ageing process by prompting cells to recycle and rebuild themselves, scientists have said.

However, humans can only benefit from the anti-ageing chemical if they possess the right sort of bacteria in their gut. The microbes are needed to convert the fruit’s raw ingredient into urolithin A.

Researchers investigating the molecule fed it to mice as part of their diet and found it increased their eight-to-10-day lifespan by more than 45 per cent.

The scientists have already set up a company, Amazentis, to exploit the discovery, and early clinical trials testing finely calibrated doses of the molecule in human patients are under way in a number of European hospitals.

Professor Johan Auwerx, from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, in Switzerland, said: “We believe this research is a milestone in current anti-ageing efforts, and illustrates the opportunity of rigorously tested nutritional bioactive agents that we consider to have outstanding potential for human health.” The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, focused on mitochondria – tiny rod-like “power plants” in cells that play a vital role in turning food into energy.

Over time, mitochondria become worn out and damaged, mitophagy becomes less efficient and cells end up cluttered with old, poorly functioning mitochondria.

Every two years, millions are glued to their televisions (or tablets or phones or whatever the kids are using these days) to catch the dazzling Olympic opening ceremonies. While we don’t have long until the Summer Olympics kick off in Rio, those craving their fix of lavish costumes and dancing in celebration of beginnings don’t have to wait any longer.

To commemorate the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, the country staged an extravagantly bizarre performance featuring jumpsuit-clad clog dancers, horse-drawn carriages and yodelling.

The railway tunnel, the longest in the world, spans over 57 km to take travellers from Switzerland to Italy. CNN reports that train rides are expected to take a mere 20 minutes while reaching speeds as fast as 250 km/h. One might assume the trains’ extreme speeds are due to a fear of being chased by that freaky goat-man-thing.

The ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the completion of the 57-kilometre tunnel through the Alps was greeted with great fanfare with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy on hand.

The thoroughfare aims to cut travel times, ease roadway traffic and draw cargo from pollution-spewing lorries trucking between Europe’s north and south. Once it opens for commercial service in December, the two-way tunnel will take up to 260 freight trains and 65 passenger trains per day.

Laurent Gillieron / Keystone via Associated PressThe first train comes out of the tunnel's North portal on the opening day of the Gotthard rail tunnel, at the North portal near Erstfeld, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP, Getty ImagesAn artist warms up in front of a projection of the North entrance of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel prior to the ceremonial opening

GENEVA — A school board in northern Switzerland said Wednesday that two Muslim boys who have refused to shake hands with their female teachers for religious reasons can be required to do so, ruling that their parents could face fines of up to 5,000 Swiss francs (about $6,500) if they don’t.

A public school in the northeastern Therwil municipality had sought the regional school board’s advice after accepting the boys’ belief that they should only willingly touch the women whom they will eventually marry. The school had temporarily exempted the teens from shaking hands with teachers.

The boys’ refusal set off a debate in Switzerland, which has a tradition of handshake greetings. Like elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland has at times struggled to strike the right cultural balance amid a recent influx of Muslims and other newcomers.

“The public interest concerning the equality of men and women as well as the integration of foreigners significantly outweighs the pupils’ freedom of religion and belief,” the school board said in a statement. “The social gesture of shaking hands is important if pupils are to be prepared for working life.”

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Under the decision, teachers at the school can require their students to shake hands. Refusal to comply could land the parents with a warning, a call to a meeting with school leaders, other disciplinary measures, and in the extreme, fines of up to 5,000 francs as part of standard school policies, the board said.

Sanctions would need to have “an educational purpose and be proportionate,” it said.

The Central Islamic Council of Switzerland accused the authorities of “grossly overstepping their competency,” saying such measures won’t help integration but rather contribute to a feeling of alienation among Muslims. The council said it would take legal action against any effort to apply the sanctions, and ignore any fines.

School board spokeswoman Deborah Murith said the handshake requirement isn’t uniform policy at all regional schools, but that the Therwil school had enacted it years ago.

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Switzerland has noted that politeness is a key aspect of Islamic tradition, and that refraining from handshakes is “inappropriate” in Switzerland.

]]>stdclassroom without studentChaplin’s World: Canadian plays role in new museum devoted to the Little Tramphttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/chaplins-world-canadian-plays-role-in-new-museum-devoted-to-the-little-tramp
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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland — Canadians touring the new Chaplin’s World museum a few kilometres north of Montreux on the Swiss Riviera can thank at least four of their fellow countrymen for having had a hand in making it all happen.

Three of those Canadians — Mack Sennett, Marie Dressler and Mary Pickford — were contemporaries instrumental in launching and perpetuating Charlie Chaplin’s film career.

Sennett, the filmmaker from Danville, Que., famed for creating “The Keystone Kops,” gave Chaplin his start in movies after spotting him in a vaudeville touring company in 1913. Dressler, born in Cobourg, Ont., was a firmly established stage and film star when she agreed to play opposite Chaplin in “Tillie’s Punctured Romance,” released in November 1914.

Around that time, Chaplin was developing the persona of the Little Tramp that would soon catapult him into the stratosphere of silent film stardom. Pickford, born Gladys Smith in Toronto, was known as America’s Sweetheart and was riding high in 1919 when she co-founded United Artists with her soon-to-be husband Douglas Fairbanks, famed director D.W. Griffith and Chaplin.

Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APA woman looks at a wall of pictures during the inauguration and the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" at the Manoir de Ban, in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland, April 16, 2016.

Fast-forward to the 21st century to meet the fourth Canadian, Yves Durand of Quebec City — the man with a dream who has been the driving force behind making Chaplin’s World a reality. A life-long Chaplin fan, Durand is a professional museographer who has built state-of-the-art facilities in Canada, Portugal and Hong King. His skills are reflected in the interactive and technologically advanced features of Chaplin’s World.

The museum, built on the grounds of the Chaplin mansion, Manoir de Ban where the comedian died in 1977, features dozens of wall-mounted monitors showing many of Chaplin’s films. There are stunning wax replicas of Chaplin and fellow film stars, as well as a multitude of posters, musical scores, scripts and other memorabilia loaned by his eight offspring. The wax likenesses of film icons such as Buster Keaton, Paulette Goddard and Stan Laurel are so realistic that visitors who bump into them around the “Studio,” as the building is called, feel they could strike up a conversation with them.

A number of the exhibits are interactive. There’s a director’s chair with a movie camera in front of it where visitors can pose as though they were helming one of The Little Tramp’s movies. There’s a barber shop recreation from the movie “The Great Dictator” with a wax figure of Chaplin standing by as if to cut a sightseer’s hair — another great photo op. And there’s a reproduction of the machinery in the movie “Modern Times” where patrons can lie over a cogwheel for a photograph that makes it look as though they, like Chaplin, were taking a serpentine ride through the mechanism.

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesA picture taken on April 6, 2016 shows Charile Chaplin's hat and stick displayed in a showcase at the Chaplin's World museum in Corsier-sur-Vevey, western Switzerland.

“I was in Switzerland on business in 2000 and I met an architect named Philippe Meylan,” said Durand while conducting a tour of the site. “He mentioned that he was a friend of Charlie Chaplin’s family and I was thrilled. I had been a big fan of the Tramp ever since my childhood.

“I first thought of him merely as a comedian who could make people laugh, but as I grew up, I learned that he was also a great humanitarian and social activist. All through my working career I have had a poster of the man in my office.”

When Durand told his new acquaintance he’d dreamed of building a museum to the memory of the comedian Meylan arranged a meeting with the Chaplins. They told him they had long thought of such a project, but no one had come up with a concept they felt would do justice to their father’s memory.

Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APThe entrance of the Charlie Chaplin Museum, during the inauguration and the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" at the Manoir de Ban, in Corsier-Sur- Vevey, Switzerland, April 16, 2016.

“I just said that if ever we do a museum about your father we’ll do a place where Charlie Chaplin will be at the centre of everything,” said Durand. “I told them we will use his movies, his music, his scripts. He will be the host. He will be the one who will be inviting people to look at all the material from his life.”

The children told Durand they thought their father would have loved that concept. He and Meylan formed a partnership with two other entrepreneurs and Durand took on the responsibility of making the museum a reality.

It took 14 years of negotiations with neighbouring landowners, and approvals from various levels of government, before shovels could be put in the ground. What resulted is a facility that many visitors rank with the best interactive museums around the world.

Vincent Vannay/Keystone via APA three-metre high billboard of the actor Charlie Chaplin is set up to show the way to the Manoir de Ban on the eve of the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" in Corsier-Sur- Vevey, Switzerland, April 15, 2016.

For 23 Swiss francs for adults (about C$30) and 17 Swiss francs for children six to 15 (about C$22.50), patrons can spend a whole day touring the museum and the refurbished Manoir de Ban. The manor house contains never-before-publicized family home movies, a dining room with a long table where the family took their meals and the grand piano where Chaplin composed “Smile” and the scores to several of his movies.

Many visitors stay at the Modern Times Hotel, a five-minute shuttle bus ride from the estate. It’s a mini-museum of Chaplin relics as well, its walls festooned with posters and monitors that play Chaplin’s films.

Durand, a walking encyclopedia of Chaplin, took such a hands-on approach to the project that he lived over the garage on the estate during construction.

Asked whether he’d ever done imitations of the Little Tramp — even at private parties or with a few friends?

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]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/chaplins-world-canadian-plays-role-in-new-museum-devoted-to-the-little-tramp/feed0stdVisitors look at a film projection during a press visit of Chaplin's World Museum in Corsier-sur-Vevey, western Switzerland, on April 16, 2016.Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APFabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesLaurent Gillieron/Keystone via APVincent Vannay/Keystone via AP‘Chaplin’s World’ honours cinema legend with museum in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Veveyhttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/chaplins-world-honours-cinema-legend-with-museum-in-the-swiss-village-of-corsier-sur-vevey
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GENEVA — As Charlie Chaplin finished out his long life on his bucolic Swiss manor, the former silent film star worried about drifting into oblivion, his connoisseurs say.

Little chance of that. The legacy of the Hollywood legend behind “The Great Dictator” and “Modern Times” lives on today in the minds of stars like Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr., in Broadway plays and in the general cultural consciousness. But he never had bricks-and-mortar museum honouring his life and achievements.

That changes Sunday with the public opening of “Chaplin’s World,” a multimillion-dollar project in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Vevey. Its director-general says the museum is the first of its kind in the world to honour Chaplin, and has added value because it’s at a place he called home for years.

Vincent Vannay/Keystone via APA three-metre high billboard of the actor Charlie Chaplin is set up to show the way to the Manoir de Ban on the eve of the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" in Corsier-Sur- Vevey, Switzerland, April 15, 2016.

Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APA woman looks at a wall of pictures during the inauguration and the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" at the Manoir de Ban, in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland, April 16, 2016.

The “Manoir de Ban” is where Chaplin lived his last 25 years raising children, writing music and movie scripts, and contemplating his legacy far from the glare of the Hollywood spotlight. Visitors can see his trademark bowler hat and cane, a replica studio, black-and-white photographs from his career, and the bedroom where he died at age 88 in 1977.

Working with Paris’ Grevin museum, which is known for its wax figures, managers have displayed a number of figures of Chaplin as well as friends like Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill on the green 14-hectare (35-acre) grounds along Lake Geneva, said Jean-Pierre Pigeon, the Swiss-Canadian director of Chaplin’s World.

“He was not just resting here, he was working. He was part of the region,” said Pigeon. “He was able to live a normal life here. He found the right life-work balance here in Switzerland. In England, he was really poor, in the United States, he was really successful in his career and money-wise, but his real happiness was here for 25 years.”

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesA picture taken on April 6, 2016 shows Charile Chaplin's hat and stick displayed in a showcase at the Chaplin's World museum in Corsier-sur-Vevey, western Switzerland.

Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APSpectators watch the movie "The Great Dictator" with actor Charlie Chaplin in the cinema during the inauguration and the opening of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin" at the Manoir de Ban, in Corsier-Sur- Vevey, Switzerland, April 16, 2016.

About two dozen of his children and grandchildren were on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, which was Chaplin’s birthday.

Organizers are hoping for more than 300,000 visits per year, Pigeon said, boosted by a nearby chocolate factory and a medieval castle.

What would the famed English-born actor and director think about “Chaplin’s World?”

“I think his first reaction would probably be ‘Oooh!”‘ Pigeon said with a chuckle. “But there was one thing he was scared of: being forgotten. So this is a good way to broaden his notoriety.”

“A place where people can laugh and get emotion: That’s what he would have wanted,” Pigeon said.

AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUDApril 2: Estelle Balet competing to win the wild face of "l'Aiguille Pourrie" during a stage of the Swatch Freeride World Tour in Chamonix.

Just two weeks after winning the Freeride World Tour for the second year in a row, snowboarder Estelle Balet, 21, was killed in an avalanche while filming in the Swiss Alps.

Swiss police say the athlete was struck by the snow slide early Tuesday morning while filming above Orsieres, near Switzerland’s southern border with France and Italy.

Valais state police said in a statement that rescuers were able to free Balet, who had been wearing special safety equipment, but she died at the scene.

“I feel a huge sadness, a feeling of bitterness and above all solidarity with her family and friends,” Freeride World Tour founder Nicolas Hale-Woods told AFP. “It is a reminder that no matter how well prepared you are, taking part in freeride in the mountains has an element of uncertainty.”

Balet was a member of watchmaker Swatch’s professional team.

Police say they have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.

Anthony Anex/Keystone via APBalet competes during the "Xtreme de Verbier" in early April

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoXX2oN0L50&w=940&h=529]

Anthony Anex/Keystone via APLeft to right: Anne-Flore Marxer from Switzerland, second place, Estelle Balet from Switzerland, first place, and Marion Haerty from France celebrate during the ceremony for World championship after the Xtreme de Verbier on April 2.

The revelations about offshore accounts contained in the so-called Panama Papers are sensational, but they are unlikely to put an end to these tax havens favored by the world’s rich and powerful.

Rather, the disclosures are a reminder that these shelters have been around for close to a century, and have proved remarkably resilient even as they periodically aroused public outrage and calls for reform. In fact, an earlier scandal may have laid the foundation for the tax havens that are now under scrutiny.

Switzerland has become shorthand for hidden money, and with good reason: The country has long sought to attract foreign capital to its banking system by offering a mixture of secrecy, preferential tax treatment and creative corporate structures.

In 1934, Switzerland made secrecy a state policy.

The process began before World War I, when the Swiss canton of Zug amended its laws to make it easy for foreigners to establish corporations and holding companies. Zug, which may be home to as many as 29,000 such companies today, helped begin this tradition of courting foreign capital. (The canton made headlines in 2001, when President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a convicted U.S. tax evader who had sought refuge in Zug). The bankers and lawyers of Zurich — and to a lesser extent, Basel — played a part, too, helping manage these companies and the money they brought to the region.

In the 1920s, Switzerland became a favored destination for cash that needed to escape the prying eyes of government authorities. This stoked immense resentment against Swiss bankers, not least because they steadfastly refused to cooperate with any country hoping to track down tax evaders.

The Swiss government itself endorsed the stonewalling approach. The Federal Council minutes of 1924 note that the Committee of the Swiss Bankers’ Association had opted to reject “any measure combating this evasion.”

But up to this point, Swiss secrecy was a matter of custom, not law. That would soon change. In 1934, Switzerland made secrecy a state policy. In the usual telling of this story, this decision was a response to the Nazis coming to power in Germany in 1933, and Swiss secrecy was a humanitarian gesture aimed at protecting Jewish assets from the German government.

This narrative, however, is bosh. As the historian Sébastien Guex has shown, Swiss secrecy was largely driven by a reaction to a little-known scandal with similarities to today’s Panama Papers contretemps.

The story begins in 1932, when the French government struggled to balance the budget as the country was mired against the Great Depression. A left-leaning coalition government, aware that many of France’s wealthiest citizens had been avoiding taxes by moving money to Switzerland, undertook an investigation.

On Oct. 26, local authorities raided the Paris offices of the Commercial Bank of Basel, seizing notebooks that contained the names of 2,000 elite French citizens who had been using Swiss banks to shield their income from the tax man. Wealthy industrialists such as the Peugeot brothers, prominent politicians and many others found themselves in the public eye. Secrets had been spilled, and many of those who hadn’t been identified pulled their money from Switzerland.

The French government sought to intimidate Switzerland into handing over more information; it even arrested officials connected to the bank. This wasn’t a minor affair: Guex estimates that the French government had lost upward of 2 billion francs in tax revenue thanks to these evasions. And so they continued to target the Swiss banks.

The Swiss fought back. A government official wrote that “it would in no way be in our interest to grant French agents judicial cooperation which might have very unfavorable repercussions on the substantial business accruing to our banks from foreign deposits.”

In truth, the banks already were in deep trouble, and not just because of skittish depositors. The Great Depression had crippled the financial system, prompting many Swiss to push for greater oversight, much as other countries began doing at this time.

But this carried great risks: Oversight meant that federal officials might get access to details about depositors that could then become public, driving away yet more foreigners eager to stash their money in secret accounts.

And so the two sides reached an agreement. The Swiss banks submitted to greater federal oversight under the terms of the Banking Act of 1934. But Article 47 of this legislation made divulging the identity of bank customers to foreign governments a crime punishable by imprisonment and hefty fines. It demanded “absolute silence” of any and all Swiss custodians of cash.

It worked. Foreign funds flowed back into Switzerland and its banking system. In the process, the Swiss created a template that other countries could emulate if they, too, wished to attract foreign capital.

And so was born the offshore tax shelter. In the postwar era, a host of other countries around the world took the Swiss model to heart: Beirut, the Bahamas, Uruguay, Lichtenstein, and last but not least, Panama.

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Miss a shot against Switzerland, and they’re going to make you pay.

That’s become abundantly clear this week at the world women’s curling championship, and their rivals were served another reminder of that basic rule on Friday as the Swiss took advantage of a rare Japanese miss to win 8-4 in the 1-2 playoff.

With the win, skip Binia Feltscher’s team booked their place in Sunday’s final and put their country one win away from a fourth world championship in five years.

It’s far more than the team was predicting for itself when the tournament began.

“We’ve had not such a good season,” Feltscher said. “We had a good Swiss championship where we qualified (for worlds) and now we’re happy to be here and we’re hoping to be in the top-six. We’re not going for a gold medal in our minds, top-six is good in our minds.”

Maybe top-six was good in their minds — or maybe we should have taken their humility with a grain of salt — but the Swiss guaranteed themselves at least a silver medal with their performance on Friday night.

There was nothing flashy about the way the Swiss played. They just did what they’ve been doing all week and hit their shots.

In the early-going, the Japanese did the same until skip Satsuki Fujisawa came up short with her final rock of the seventh end. That left Feltscher with an easy shot for three and, surprise, surprise, she didn’t miss.

The rest was largely a formality, as the Swiss team — which includes third Irene Schori, second Franziska Kaufmann and lead Christine Urech — played a smart defensive game and prevented the Japanese rink from finding an opening for a big end.

When Fujisawa clipped her guard and left the Swiss with an easy draw for two in the ninth, it was over.

The win puts Switzerland into the final on Sunday while Japan will await the winner of Saturday afternoon’s 3-4 page playoff game between Canada and Russian and take them on in Saturday evening’s semifinal.

I thought I’d been invited as a travel writer to attend an orientation lecture for new employees learning to be guides at the Pro Natura centre.

I was told this would provide information for my article about the local flora, fauna and giant 23-kilometre Aletsch Glacier (called the greatest glacier of the Alps, capable of providing one litre of water a day to everybody on earth for six years).

But after leaving nearby Bettmeralp, a tiny village accessible only by aerial tramway, I discovered the so-called lecture was a day of field orientation — which, if offered as part of a tour, might have been described as follows:

A full-day hike: 8 a.m., return at 5 p.m. For experienced and fit hikers. Occasionally challenging terrain: small and large boulders, slippery roots, narrow and sometimes no trail, some steep sections, including time on a very uneven glacier. Pace will be set by a group of 20-yearolds. Weather forecast: sun, rain, wind, hail, snow, requiring all your protective clothing and appropriate footwear. Bring sunscreen, food and water.

bill_17/FotoliaBettmeralp is a car-free village in the immediate vicinity of the Aletsch Glacier.

There was no turning back — even though I had only rubber boots.

Taking more than occasional stops, I could enjoy the tiny white, purple and orange alpine flowers, catch a glimpse of a herd of deer or a solitary goatlike chamois, or listen to the call of a cuckoo.

On to the glacier we went, and on went the crampons to give me the traction I needed to climb precipitous slopes and avoid deep icy-blue crevasses: “Don’t think, just walk,” advised one of the mountain guides, specialists in glacier exploration who had been engaged to provide in-depth information to the Pro Natura newbies.

We met unexpected wildlife, like the glacier flea, which populates pools of water, but avoids humans because we are too warm.

We learned what happens when three glaciers merge into one. The lateral moraines — matching ridges on either side of the glacier of rock, soil and sediment which have been picked up by the ice flow — join and form medial moraines. These appear as dark lines running down the centre along the length of the glacier.

Mike GrenbyA village hugs a slope of the Swiss Alps. Switzerland's Aletsch Arena region features a blend of cultures, beautiful wildlife and world-renowned skiing.

Instructor Gregor Wittwer poured custard into a slightly sloping board cut to represent the three glacial flows, then added chocolate sprinkles to represent the lateral moraines so we could see how the medial moraine forms. Afterward, he gave everybody spoons to provide a sweet finish to the lesson. British Columbia is blessed with spectacular and rugged mountain scenery, too. But it’s the Swiss alpine traditions going back hundreds of years which provide so many memorable experiences. Most people have heard of Switzerland’s popular tourist attractions like Zermatt, the Matterhorn, St. Moritz and the major cities like Zurich, Geneva and Lucerne.

But very few outside Europe know about Bettmeralp (permanent population 520, growing to 3,000 in summer and 6,000 around Christmas), a village with almost no cars, accessible only by aerial tramway from the Rhone valley and 1,950 metres above sea level.

The main street runs the few hundred metres from the upper terminal of the tramway into the village. The mountains tower above the village and across the valley climb equally steep. Indeed, picture postcard perfect is the only way to describe the “sunburned” (as one local put it) chalets that cluster in the villages or cling to impossibly steep mountain slopes, their wooden exteriors having weathered into a dark, almost black brown, with flowers adorning their windows and balconies in the spring and summer, and deep snow covering their roofs in winter.

With narrow-gauge mountain trains that always run on time, cows with multi-toned bells, cheeses and chocolates and surprisingly good wines — and reaching to the sky, snow-covered mountain peaks with hiking trails on their lower slopes that attract people of all ages — Switzerland has it all.

It’s common to be out on a rugged hike and just when you are starting to feel hungry, you round a bend and find a chalet restaurant in the middle of nowhere, with a perfect coffeeand-cake combo or full lunch menu.

“Most of our visitors come from Switzerland, Germany and Holland,” said Simon Weiler, sales manager for Aletsch Arena, the southwestern portion of the country that includes the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site. And indeed, during my five-day stay I didn’t meet any native English speakers, although other visitors and the locals could speak English.

Still, it’s worth making the effort to say at least a few greeting words in the local lingo, which is an interesting mix of Switzerland’s four official languages (German, French, Italian, Romansh) plus Swiss-German and in this area, the Valais canton dialect.

So the German guten abend (good evening) greeting, which seems to be used from mid-afternoon on, becomes naben. And goodbye is mostly the Italian ciao.

Especially in a small place like Bettmeralp, you can expect people entering a restaurant to say hello to the diners already there. You don’t necessarily have to greet everybody you meet. But most people do, particularly if you are out on a hike.

And you never know what you will encounter when you set out. For example, on a less strenuous day than my glacier experience, I rode two aerial tramways to the Eggishorn lookout at 2,926 metres where, as luck would have it, 14 alphorn players from all over Switzerland and their conductor had gathered to rehearse. They even finished off with an informal yodel. It doesn’t get any more Swiss than that.

Aletsch Arena Tourism subsidized the writer’s accommodation. No one at Aletsch Arena Tourism read or approved of this article before publication. Former Vancouver Sun money columnist Mike Grenby is a travel writer who teaches journalism at Bond University on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Police said in a statement that Violier was found dead in his home late Sunday afternoon in the municipality of Crissier. An investigation has been opened to determine the exact circumstances of the death, police said. His death reportedly came days before Michelin was due to unveil its 2016 restaurant rankings. Violier’s restaurant kept its three-star ranking.

Violier’s establishment, the Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier, served dishes such as saddle of Pyrenean young lamb and crispy Landes duck foie gras.

Last year it was ranked first on a French government-sponsored list of the world’s top 1,000 restaurants.

DAVOS, Switzerland — Fresh off his Golden Globe win, Leonardo DiCaprio drew ooohs, ahhs and smiles from a crowd as he was honoured for his work against the climate crisis at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Then he ripped into Big Oil.

The Hollywood star of “The Revenant” traded the North American snows for white Alpine slopes at a ceremony Tuesday where he announced his foundation was donating another $15 million to environmental projects, and pleaded with business leaders and other notables on hand to help battle climate change.

“We simply cannot allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity,” DiCaprio said to polite applause. “Those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied and even covered up the evidence of our changing climate.”

“Enough is enough. You know better. The world knows better. History will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet.”

In their speeches, both DiCaprio and Will.i.am mentioned Bill Gates — a Davos staple, who is set to take part in a session this Friday. DiCaprio hailed the Microsoft co-founder for his support of a “zero-emissions” future; the hip-hop star imagined the impact on a downtrodden community if a Gates-like entrepreneur were to emerge from one.

Chen, who was said to have 78 million followers on Sina Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, was recognized for her work on behalf of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.

HELSINKI — Moments after erasing a two-goal deficit and defeating Switzerland in a 3-2 overtime shootout win against Switzerland, Dylan Strome was asked why Canada had looked so flat in a game that everyone assumed should have been over before it began.

If he wanted to, Strome could have made any number of excuses. He could have said Canada ran into a hot goalie, that the players could not find their legs or that the ice was slush.

Instead, he spoke the truth: Canada may no longer be the powerhouse many people in this country want to believe it is.

“You see in the Olympics now, every team is so close and you see in the world juniors five teams in the past five years (have won),” said Strome. “It’s no slouch of a tournament. There’s no weak teams … The Swiss team is a good team. There’s no slouch here. There’s no slouch in our division.”

What Strome said was hardly surprising to anyone who has been watching Canada’s games at the world junior championship this year. This is not the same collection of all-stars who steamrolled its way to a gold medal last year in Montreal and Toronto, having never lost a game or even trailed by a goal.

Nothing has come easy to this year’s team.

The Canadians lost 4-2 to the United States and went down 1-0 to Denmark on Tuesday before rattling off six straight goals for a 6-1 win. On Tuesday, they received a challenge from an unlikely source.

In 20 past meetings, Switzerland had not even picked up a point against Canada. And yet, the Swiss matched the Canadians hit-for-hit, shot-for-shot and for stretches outskated them.

“(They) dictated the pace early,” said Canadian head coach Dave Lowry. “They put us on our heels. They scored that first goal. We got away from how we wanted to play.”

“They gave it to us the first 20 minutes,” said forward Mitch Marner. “I just don’t think we came ready. That’s a big part of this tournament, coming in ready and respecting your opponents. I think we have to do that better.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickCanada's Brayden Point puts the puck past Switzerland's Joren van Pottelberghe during a shootout.

Switzerland took a 1-0 lead when Damien Riat’s shot was redirected past Canadian goalie Mackenzie Blackwood at 2:12 in the first period. About 13 minutes later, the score was 2-0 after another shot took a pinball bounce off a body and went in.

A bad-angle goal from Strome in the dying seconds of the period gave the Canadians life. And in the second period, the team was able to tie the game on a one-timer from Joe Hicketts, setting up an eventual overtime shootout with Brayden Point and Matt Barzal both scoring.

“We had to put our work boots and hard hat back on,” said Hicketts. “When you fall in a 2-0 hole it’s something you never want to do. The character in that room shone through there and we were able to come out of that deficit. It was a tight-checking game and we can establish that and that type of game, I think it’s a positive going forward.”

This is no longer a tournament of four strong nations and a group of punching bags for everyone to beat up. The Czech Republic forced a shootout with Russia to open the tournament and Denmark beat Switzerland 2-1 on Sunday for the country’s first-ever regulation win at the tournament.

“This is why this tournament is exciting,” said Swiss coach John Fust. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We’re going in the aggressor, and we’re going to be hunting.”

Canada is still one of the favourites. But getting a medal — never mind winning gold — is going to be challenging. Maybe that is why these early scares were being treated as a blessing following Tuesday’s nail-biter.

If anything, it hammers home the point that Canada cannot just skate their way to another 6-1 win. That begins when the team plays undefeated Sweden on New Year’s Eve, which should be Canada’s toughest test so far.

“It’s a learning curve for sure,” said Marner. “Now we know we have to respect everyone in this tournament. Everyone has world-class talent. Next game we have to know that and make sure we come ready to play.”

“We talked about learning. Every day, you have to get better,” said Lowry. “This was a tough game. This challenged a lot of things about our team. At the end of the day, we were resilient. We found a way to win.”

Maybe facing this level of adversity now will serve as yet another wake-up call and make the Canadians battle-tested for the medal round. Or maybe, it is a sign that this tournament is not going to get any easier.

Europe can be hot and crowded in summer. So why not try a trip in winter? Air fares and hotels will be less expensive, often wildly so. And you will avoid the crowds, which means more time to delve deep and really explore. Here are some great spots to try.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

I have made many visits in December and always enjoyed the Christmas goodies for sale in and around the main train station. There are 150 stalls at the main station selling all kinds of Christmas bits, plus a giant tree decorated with glowing Swarovski crystals. Stroll around the shops, then head to a lovely café for a cup of coffee or some mulled wine.

IRELAND

A bit cool, you say? Well, it is not like summer in Ireland is a guaranteed heat furnace. So why not explore Dublin’s Temple Bar when you do not need a reservation for the best bar stool? And why not try a night at a sumptuous spot like Ashford Castle in winter, when you can cozy up to the fire and enjoy the lobby? Galway is a great university town with marvellous pubs, while Belfast is a fascinating spot in Northern Ireland. If you can manage it, swing a night at the lovely Merchant Hotel in Belfast, one of Europe’s most elegant places to sleep.

Jim ByersLocated on Ireland's west coast, Galway is a great university town with a walkable city centre and fantastic pubs.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

I fell in love with the hills and the winding, narrow streets and the rambling, rumbling trams. The food is quite good, the wine exceptional and the value tremendous. They are on the Euro, but you can find good meals for less than $15 Canadian and good wine for $6. Super friendly people, too. Do not miss a day trip to beautiful Sintra, with its hilltop castles and forts. If the weather is nice, the beach is also close by.

SPLIT, CROATIA

You hear more about Dubrovnik, but I love the feel of Split. The ruins are spectacular and there are white stone passageways leading into hidden laneways all over the centre of the city around Diocletian’s Palace. A photographer’s delight and a great place to feel you are miles away from North America.

Jim ByersDiocletian's Palace is a fantastic place to walk about in the seaside Croatian city of Split.

SOUTHERN ITALY

It is hard to beat the beauty of a coastal town like Taormina, Sicily. You may not find many places open in winter, but the scenery is much prettier without the hordes of cruise ship passengers. Also worth checking out would be Sorrento, Naples and the Amalfi Coast. You can expect daytime highs in the mid-teens in winter; t-shirt and shorts weather for us Canadians.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

You will have to be prepared for the weather, but it is probably warmer here than most Canadian cities. I still remember the beautiful islands that dot the city’s waterfront area and the lovely shops and restaurants. It is not a cheap destination, but you will find better deals now than in the heat of summer.

Jim ByersSt. Emilion is a lovely village near Bordeaux, France. The wine in the region is some of the best in the world.

BORDEAUX, FRANCE

You do not hear a lot about the city of Bordeaux, likely because of the famous wines that grow around here. It is a pretty city given a pretty serious face lift in parts. The old city is one of those typical older areas of Europe with tiny alleyways jammed with patios where you can sip local wine, French beer or drink your coffee. Nearby St. Emilion is one of the most beautiful villages in France.

DEAL OF THE WEEK
Contiki, which specializes in youth and young professional travel, is offering 30 per cent off on all remaining 2015 trips as part of a Black Friday celebration. Tours include Asia, Europe, Latin America, California, New Zealand and Australia. www.contiki.com

DESTINATION OF THE WEEK
It is pretty tough to beat San Francisco. Even when it rains, which is not often, the city positively glows with energy. Try a cable car ride and watch the drivers and ticket-takers as they banter with tourists from all over the world. It is one of the most unique ways to see one of the most unique cities in the world.

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]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/skip-the-crowds-and-plan-a-winter-european-getaway-hot-spots-from-portugal-to-switzerland/feed1stdThe Swiss city of Zurich has fantastic Christmas markets and a wonderful, medieval city centre with narrow alleyways and lively cafes.Jim ByersJim ByersJim Byers